Ohio is served by a patchwork of several electric distribution companies, electric co-ops and municipal electric utilities, as shown on this map.

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Direct Energy has written an excellent 2-page history of energy deregulation and customer choice in Ohio.  The remainder of this history section is condensed from that source.

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In July 1999, Ohio restructured its energy market to allow consumers to choose their energy provider, effective January 1, 2001. Customers could choose to buy energy from Certified Retail Electric Suppliers (CRES) instead of automatically receiving it from their local utility company. Four activities that had previously been performed by investor owned utilities (IOU) were separated.

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• Electric Utilities, also known as Electric Distribution Companies (EDC), would control transmission and distribution (aka “poles and wires”)

• Marketers would sell retail service to residential and commercial customers

• Brokers or aggregators would contract with retailers on behalf of groups of buyers

• Governmental aggregators (County, municipal, or local community governments) would contract with suppliers for service on behalf of their residents and businesses

The first few years of deregulation were rocky.  Customers were hesitant to switch to new suppliers or aggregators due a lack of price differences. Meanwhile, changes in the market landscape left many without choices.  The northern (primarily urban) part of the state had more energy suppliers, while the southern (rural) part had fewer. Consequently, in areas where suppliers were sparse, customer choice was often effectively limited to community aggregation or the incumbent utility. Litigation over compliance with SB3 also delayed the transition to full market pricing.

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In May 2008, Governor Ted Strickland signed Senate Bill 221 into law to revise PUCO’s regulatory structure. It required incumbent utilities to offer a Standard Service Offer (SSO) for customers who did not actively choose a retail supplier. PUCO was given broad authority to make sure certain utilities’ SSO proposals were “fair and equitable” to consumers.

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SB 221 also required each incumbent utility to shed its power generation operations and become an electric distribution utility (EDU).

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Aggregation in Ohio must be approved through a local ballot measure and, like Illinois, local governments facilitate the aggregation contract but do not assume day-to-day administration of the program.

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